PRESERVATIONGROUPHONORS 3 LOCALRENOVATIONPROJECTS

Three renovated buildings from the Lawrence area were recognized during an awards ceremony Saturday by the Kansas Preservation Alliance.

Slides depicting work on the Free State Brewery, 636 Mass., renovation of the Benedict House and Cottages, 923 Tenn., and the rehabilitation of Constitution Hall in Lecompton were shown to members of the alliance, a group that promotes historic preservation throughout the state.

Ron Schneider, a local attorney who chaired the awards program, stressed that many people were involved in the renovation of the recognized buildings. For each project, several people were given certificates of recognition, including architects, contractors, artisans, bankers and building owners.

"Preservation is not the result of one individual or one profession," Schneider said. "It is a group effort."

Schneider explained that a jury started meeting in October to review nominations for the awards.

OWNED BY Chuck Magerl, the Free State Brewery opened in 1989 as the first licensed brewery in Kansas since the repeal of prohibition. The building had served as a bus depot and trolley pass-through.

The Benedict House, also known as the Enchanted Cottage, was purchased in 1987 by the Lawrence Preservation Alliance. The home was renovated, and three separate companion cottages were built.

The rehabilitation of Constitution Hall, a meeting place for the territorial Legislature and the site of the first land office in Kansas, is not yet finished. The first phase has been completed and representatives of the project said they hoped to start the second phase soon, contingent upon funding from the state. Constitution Hall was built in 1856.

Architects for the area projects were John Lee & Associates for the Free State Brewery and Dan Rockhill & Sons for Constitution Hall and the Benedict House and Cottages. Contractors for the projects were John Stanley and Kevin Arnold for the brewery and Dan Rockhill & Sons for Constitution Hall and the Benedict House and Cottages.

OTHER PROJECTS recognized were the George Neese Gray Performing Arts Center, Topeka; the W.G. Milam House, Topeka; the J.S. Schroeder Building, Peabody; Walk Around the Block, an educational project based in Prairie Village; Bishop Fink Hall, Benedictine College in Atchison; the Hollenberg Pony Express Station, Hanover; and the Elliott Building, Peabody.